Recent Headlines

The 26-vote defeat of an incumbent on the Houston Community College System by an anti-gay activist many voters thought was black shows what happens when voter turnout is low and those that do cast ballots fail to do their homework.

Bruce Austin, the defeated trustee, is seeking a recount, but a reversal is considered unlikely. The people living in his district may have Dave Wilson representing them for the next six years.

Wilson's campaign implied he was African-American and never presented any photos of the candidate, KHOU Channel 11 in Houston reported.

Campaign literature sent to voters by Wilson had the words “Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson” and showed photographs with smiling African-American faces. The literature did not note that the people in the picture did not know Wilson. The new college board trustee said after the election he got the images off the Internet.

Wilson also mentioned in his campaign materials in the community college district race that he was being endorsed by Ron Wilson. The assumption by many was that he was referring to the longtime Houston state representative with the same name. The small print in his literature, however, noted the Ron Wilson doing the endorsing in the race is Dave Wilson's cousin, who does not live in Texas.

Community college politics tend to stay off the radar unless there is scandal. This election should serve as a wake-up call about the importance of every race, even those at the bottom of the ballot.

There are probably many voters who stayed home on Election Day who now wish they had made time in their busy day to cast a ballot.